Estimated net long-term migration from the EU8 states including Poland and Czech Republic has dropped sharply since the Brexit vote in 2016.

Now the measure – the difference between the numbers arriving and leaving the UK for at least 12 months – has registered a minus figure for the first time since the enlargement of the bloc 14 years ago.

A similar downward trend has occurred for other groups of EU states, bringing overall EU net migration to around 87,000, the lowest level for more than five years.

While immigration data since the referendum have sparked claims of a Brexodus, figures for the rest of the world painted a contrasting picture, with net migration from outside the EU now higher than at any point since 2004.

Net migration to the UK from EU countries (PA)

Overall, the balance between immigration and emigration was 271,000.

This is below record levels seen around 2015 and 2016, but still almost three times the Government’s net migration target of less than 100,000.

Nicola Rogers, of the Office for National Statistics, said the figures show net migration is continuing to add to the UK’s population.

She said: ‘Looking at the underlying numbers we can see that EU net migration has fallen, as fewer EU citizens are arriving in the UK, and has now returned to the level last seen in 2012.’